Personalities and Figures

Yaakov Binyamin Katzenelson

Translated from the Yiddish by Harvey Spitzer

Yaakov Binyamin Katzenelson was born in Kapulia in 1859 and studied at the yeshivot (rabbinic seminaries) in Volozhin and Kovna. He was the author of Ol'lot Efraim (Gleaning of Efraim, 1889), a poem which drew attention to the Maskilim (intellectuals) at a time of negative relations to the followers of the Enlightenment movement whom Katzenelson describes unsympathetically as career opportunists [and whom he compares] to the beloved and idealized heroes, the enlightened yeshiva students with their desire for education. Ben Yemini (Katzenelson) then lived in Warsaw and was a collaborator on the Hebrew encyclopedia, Eshkol. At that time, his wife lived in Korelitz, at the home of her mother, the widow of the rabbi of Korelitz, Rabbi Yitzchak Yechiel Davidson and there, in Korelitz, their son, Yitzchak Katzenelson, was born (Tammuz 1886).

Lexicon of Yiddish Literature, Zalman Rajzen, Vol. III. Vilna, 1929.

Rich in achievements, the elderly Hebrew writer, Ben Yemini (Yaakov Binyamin Katzenelson), has passed away. He lived and breathed totally with love for the Hebrew language and the Jewish People. His erudition in the field of Judaism was immense. He was especially well-versed in Jewish history. He wanted to continue where the Enlightenment poet, Weisel, left off. This work remained in manuscript.

He was active for decades as an educator and raised a generation of pupils of whom he was proud. His son, the poet Yitzchak Katzenelson, grew up under his supervision; Yaakov Cohen learned his masterly Hebrew from him. The engineer, Shmuel Shwartz, who discovered the anusim (Jews compelled to convert to Christianity) in Portugal, was his pupil. Hundreds of his pupils may be found around the world. To the last day of his life, he took an interest in all the latest works that appeared in Hebrew and Yiddish. He was the initiator of and collaborator on the first Hebrew encyclopedia, HaEshkol.

Friday edition, Haynt 5 Kislev 5691 (Nov. 28. 1931), Issue 272

[Page 193]

Moshe Avraham Wolpin

Raya Schneur (Rishe Kaplan)

Translated from the Yiddish by Harvey Spitzer

If we are talking about the
Zionist Korelitz, I recall the noble and delicate figure of Reb Moshe
Avraham, the ritual slaughterer, and the JNF representative in our
town. Dressed in a black Capote and with a cane in his hand, he used
to rush to business concerning the land of Israel. From the day of
his arrival in our town to his last day, he had within his heart a
burning love for the Zionist Ideal. His arrival in Korelitz aroused a
scandal because of his Zionism. When he arrived in our town from
Odessa, many inhabitants opposed him at first, because of his well-
known opinions on Zionism. He quickly organized the Zionists in the
town, and these held a heavy campaign on his behalf. A strike was
called, and the meat of the other slaughterers was boycotted until
his opponents stopped their war against him and he was accepted as a
ritual slaughterer. From the moment that he started his duty, his
life devoted to the Zionist Ideal. He took part in strenuous work and
activities, which raised his status among the Youth of Korelitz as a
symbol and an example of action and devotion.

He himself had a hard life. His family
life was surrounded by troubles and suffering, He was a widower, and
the daughters that his late wife had given him, lived with him in his
house. One of his daughters was married with many children, and some
of these children were brought up by their grandfather. None of the
problems in his house clouded his vision of Zion or of anything
connected with Zionism: he organized, explained, convinced, and
collected funds. He was a permanent citizen in all the town's houses,
which he visited in order to organize pairs of youths for emptying
the JNF boxes. Eventually, when a large part of the youth made Aliya,
and others avoided jobs of this kind, he used to go to all the houses
to empty the boxes. He did this in order to keep the operation going
and to keep in touch with the contributors.

He himself did not have the courage to
make Aliya, but he wholeheartedly assisted those who aspired to make
Aliya. I remember that one of the girls' Aliya was delayed (she now
lives in Kfar Saba). He immediately turned to the Palestine office to
discover the reasons for the delay, and labored to speed up her
Aliya. Every time that the pioneers going on Aliya traveled to
Novogrodek on their way to Palestine, he used to travel the long way
to Novogrodek with them. Reading the articles of S. Pitrushka on
Fridays in the Heint newspaper, Vos Hert Zich in Eretz Yisroel?
(What's new in Palestine?) was, for him, like a Mitzva or the
pleasure of prayer with a religious man. He used to thirstily drink
in each line on what was happening in Palestine. When it happened
that Pitrushka's usual article was not published on a Friday, Moshe
Avraham used to write a letter to the Heint newspaper, Why didn't

you publish Pitrushka's article on
Palestine? How was it possible to read a Friday newspaper without an
article on the Land of Israel, he asked. Mrs. Vittel Shkolnik-Arieli,
who visited Korelitz in 1937, told me that Reb Moshe Avraham used to
visit her at her home every day in order to hear some living words
about the land of Israel.

There was no initiative within our
activities in which he did not participate. I remember in the market -
- the bazaar, when we started organizing in aid of the JNF. To our
joy, the public responded to this enterprise, and the revenues were
larger than expected. Reb Moshe Aaron was happy with this new
enterprise which we had discovered and with our modesty in such great
success. A short while after the Bazaar, Moshe Avraham came to our
house and told me that he had a present for me for my distinction and
my success in this Bazaar. I told him, It's not necessary! and I
said that I considered the success itself as a prize and a source of
happiness. He, however, was adamant and, a few days later, he brought
me a small album published by the JNF to mark the inauguration of the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The album contained his own
dedication: words of love of Zion and longing for the land of our
fathers.

To this day, when I participate in a
market-bazaar of the working-mothers' association, the memory
Zionist market in Korelitz stands before me and energizes me in
memory of the innocent and distinguished Zionist who does not leave
me.

My father told me about the same matter
that Reb Moshe Avraham used to correspond with various Zionist
functionaries. It happened that letters of his were found on Behr
Borochov. The police, who were looking for Zionist activists, went
out to search for him and to find him. At first, they searched for
him in Novogrodok, but they eventually found him in Korelitz. They
arrested him Davke on a Saturday and held him in jail for a
month. Thanks only to the efforts of Reb Nachum Ayzik Beigin the
Shochet, he managed to raise a sum of money, and was thus released.
My father also noted that That Reb Nachum Ayzik Beigin was also an
honorable Jew and a good Zionist.

[Page 194]

Moshe Avraham,
son of Reb Shaul Naftali Osherowitz

Kalman Osherowitz -- Raanana

Translated from the Yiddish by Harvey Spitzer

Moshe Avraham Osherowitz

My grandfather was one of the
biggest grain merchants and one of the owners of a flourmill in the
Vilna region. He was a learned man and a successful businessman, and
carried on the business dealings of his father, Reb Idel-Asher (this
was the source of the family name - Osherowitz). He worked in the
supply and transfer of produce on the Minsk-Vilna line and was
blessed in his work. With the foundation of the railway line in this
region, he lost his financial base and lived in poverty. He wanted to
teach his eldest son to do clean and easy work. He chose for him the
profession of writing Holy Books. Indeed, my father succeeded in his
profession as a highly talented artist. He excelled in making
houses for Phylacteries from one skin. He did not, however make a
good living, since, in his time, there was little demand for his
products. The simple people did not understand this subject, while
the Pedants did not have the money to buy high quality Phylacteries.
On
the other hand, the work was hard and exhausting, and required a high
degree of exactitude. My father therefore expanded his business and
also dealt with the processing of leather for Torah parchment and for
Phylactery straps. He also manufactured tombstones with a high degree
of artistry.

He also fulfilled the task of Attendant in
the court of our town's Rabbi, as well as Attendant at the old house
of learning. He served well known Rabbis such as, for example, the
late Rabbi Mordechle Slonimer, who served in our town before he came
to Slonim. When Rabbi Avraham Cohen was ill and bed-ridden in his
last years, he passed on to my father the task of handling weddings.
My father fulfilled this task all his life, with the rabbis who came
after the passing away of Rabbi Avraham Cohen. In our town, people
used to say: A wedding without Klezmers is still possible but,
without Reb Moshe-Avraham, it is impossible. He instructed young
rabbis with his advice, and they took his opinions into account. He
was popular among both young and old, and many people asked for his
advice.

In those days, a young woman who gave
birth to a son would not turn to a doctor, but rather to Reb Moshe-
Avraham. He was the circumsciser, and he was the expert who decided
whether the child was ready to enter the covenant of Abraham our
Father. After the Brit he used to visit the newborn child a number
of times, until the wound had completely healed up. He even used to
advise the mother how to take care of the child.

He was renowned for his hospitality. An
emissary who came to the town, a wandering preacher, or any other
passer-by - they all found a place in his house to lodge and to rest.
This was how my grandfather used to serve the public in a variegated
manner. When he used to sit down to the work from which he made his
living - he could not always sit peacefully and do his work. Public
affairs disturbed him all the time, while he earned almost nothing
from public affairs. He was a member of all the societies which
existed in Korelitz at the time. Among these,

he was one of the membeof the Chevra
Kadisha, and managed the cemetery list all his life. Without him,
nothing was done. He was a member of the Psalms society and the
Mishna Society. He himself handled a Mishna study group for members
of the Amcha society. He had a wonderful talent for explanation.

My mother Leachika died young, and I never
got to know her. My father remained a widower for most of his life.
As the youngest child, I used to accompany him to his lessons,
celebrations and festivities. I remember his beautiful stories and
the enthusiasm of his listeners. Often, when I remember the days of
my youth, I regret that I did not keep to heart his words and
proverbs in order to set them down in print.

My father was a dedicated and faithful
Zionist. He used to buy the Zionist Shekel every year. When the
Zionist Bank was established, he was one of the first to buy a
share.

His dream was to go to Palestine and to
settle there. We helped him to fulfill this vision. When I made
Aliya, I started to take care of his Aliya. We finally brought him
when he was 78 years old. I remember his joy when we traveled to
Jaffa to get Palestinian Citizenship from the British Mandatory
Authorities. He was happy from the honour which he received from his
son and grandchildren. In order to realize his dream of settlement,
we bought him a plot of land in Herzlia. This plot he later
bequeathed to his grandchildren who survived the Holocaust. He died
of old age, at the age of 88, on the 9th November 1943.

[Page 196]

Pesach Kaplan

Chasia Turtal-Abrazhansky

Translated from the Yiddish by Harvey Spitzer

Reb Pesach, son of Yeshayahu
Baruch the Cohen, Kaplan, was more than 90 years old when he died. He
was one of the senior householders in Korelitz. He managed to live in
the Land of Israel for a few decades, and was buried next to his wife
Hinda-Faygel in Karkur. He had lived there from his arrival in
Palestine until he was widowed. His was a personality of Torah,
tradition, love of others, common sense, humor and hilarity, and a
deep understanding of the problems of his time and of the youth. He
was involved in the life of the community and he played a significant
part in its ongoing daily problems, such as making a living, public
worries, educating the younger generation, negotiations with the
hostile authorities, whether the Czar's government, or whether the
Anti-Semitic Polish Republic. He fulfilled his public duties in a
warm and sensitive manner, without expecting to be rewarded. He spent
a few years wandering around the USA. On his return to Korelitz at
the beginning of the 20th century, he knew enough English to be able
to write letters for inhabitants of Korelitz to their relatives in
America. Three generations of Korelitzers benefited from this public
service. Reb Pesach showed a high talent in musicianship and
Chazanut. He was a scripture-reader and prayer leader on Sabbaths and
high holidays at the new Synagogue. His house was used for public
meetings. He educated his four daughters and only son in the spirit
of Zionist pioneering. All of them made Aliya. His children inherited
his musical talents from him, as well as his righteousness, his
faithfulness and perseverance in fulfilling his
functions responsibly. His house in Korelitz became the focus of the
youth who were organized in the pioneering movements. Reb Pesach
managed to make Aliya with his wife Hinda Faygel, to his children in
the land of Israel. He underwent all the absorption problems as a
pioneer. In his final years, he was a member of a Kibbutz, together
with his daughters. He bestowed a great heritage to us Korelitzers,
who went out from the town to pave roads in the wide world. Each of
these roads brought us thither.

He was old when he was gathered
to his people. He was the scion of the race of powerful Hebrews in
his body and in his spirit. He was born in Korelitz, from where he
gathered his family thirty-five years ago and went to Palestine. He
knew that his religious beliefs did not clash with the secular life
of his daughters who were living on the following Kibbutzim: Einat,
Givat Chaim, Yagur (home of his daughter Raya), and the town of son,
Netanya. As long as he had the strength to do so, he supported
himself by working as a bookkeeper in Karkur, where he was an honored
citizen, and loved by everyone. It also happened,
when he spent the last period of his life with his daughter on
Kibbutz Givat Chaim or with his daughter on Kibbutz Yagur, that he
was a loved visitor on the Kibbutzim. He was involved in their lives,
and followed their lifestyles. He enlivened their parties with his
pleasant voice and lively humor. He often rolled before the young
members chapters of life with hilarity, spiced with sayings,
proverbs, jokes and wisdom. These were all drawn from his rich
popular reservoir. He lived within his beliefs, while honoring his
children's beliefs. They also honored him and were proud of his
nobility. At every family gathering, he used to carry with him a
heart full of love for children, and brought with him a fresh breeze.
Pesach Kaplan held within himself the best and most superior of his
generation, as well as a mature and wise knowledge which was aware of
his family who were saddened by his passing. His Jewish Melody will
flow forever in the life of his extended family, as well as in the
life of his friends from Korelitz and other friends.

[Page 198]

Gershon Eliasberg

Translated from the Yiddish by Harvey Spitzer

He was born in Novohorodek in 1876. He was a descendant of the famous Harkavi family. He learnt in the heder, then completed State municipal school. He chose his father's career  pharmacy, and became a pharmacy student in Dvinsk [Latvia]. In 1900 he received his pharmacy degree (called in Russian  Provizor) from the University of Yurev [?Tartu, Estonia AB]. As a pharmacist he worked in St Petersburg and in Novogrudek and in 1912 he became the manager of the pharmacy in Korelitz. The owner was Avraham Avramovitch (who was the nephew of Mendeleh Mocher Sfarim). In 1915 Eliasberg was deported to St Petersburg. From there he went to Uralsk [a city in northwestern Kazakhstan  AB]. In 1919 he visited the medical faculty of Saratov University and in 1921 he returned to Korelitz, where he remained a pharmacist for a long time.

From his earliest years he was involved in community social work. In Novogrudek he was active in the Shokedey Malacha group. Besides endeavoring to improve school education, he helped organize clubs for the local youth. In the Pskov Governorate he was involved in socialdemocratic circles and became very active as a member of these groups. In Lower Uralsk he was chairman of the Pharmacists Society and was very active in this organization. When he returned to Korelitz he devoted himself to the rehabilitation of the families which had undergone economic ruin, and formed ties to the Yekope aid association, later becoming a member of its board. He became the delegate from Korelitz to the Second and Third Area Committee of the Yekope and was also a member of its plenum. In Korelitz he became the chairman of local institutions such as the People's Cooperative Bank and the Rebuilding Commission, Free Loan Society and various general welfare societies of the town, gaining the respect and gratitude of all its inhabitants.

Coordinator's note: The Yiddish text (Pages 198199) is similar to the English text (Page XLVI), but includes additional information.

[Page 199]

Shalom Cohen

Translated from the Yiddish by Harvey Spitzer

Born into a rabbinic family in Korelitz in 1880, Shalom Cohen received his first education in the traditional cheder and yeshiva. He subsequently graduated from a Russian public school and was a pupil for a short time in Cohen's 6 grade Gymnasium (secondary school) in Vilna.

From age 18 until the outbreak of the First World War, he held positions as bookkeeper and cashier in various places. When he was deported from Korelitz by the Germans, he moved in with his father's family in Novogrudek. There he gave private lessons and was involved in social activities. Prior to that, he had gained experience working on a relief committee which distributed money contributed by Jews from Berlin to support the needy and homeless and victims of the war who were then living in Novogrudek.

From the summer of 1918 to the summer of 1919, he served as secretary of the "Supervisory Building and Relief Committee" in Novogrudek and from the summer of 1919 to the end of 1920, he served as secretary of the Jewish committee and later as secretary of the first democratically elected community council in Novogrudek. He was one of the founders and builders of the Novogrudek public school, in which he worked as a teacher for 4 years. He worked for 3 years as a teacher and administrator in the Korelitz public school which he also helped establish and build. Shalom Cohen was one of the first members of the regional reconstruction company Yekopa in the Novogrudek area and was a delegate at its conferences. In 1929 he was active in undertaking a review of 70 benevolent societies conducted by Yekopa and was a colleague of the Yekopa journal.

Rina Grabelsky, nee
Mordechovitz - the last representative of our parents' generation -
was born in 1891. She was born into a lower class working family. In
Korelitz, she diligently studied everything that could be studied
through private teachers and at the Cheider: The Bible, Hebrew,
Russian, Arithmetic, etc. At the age of 16 or 17, she emigrated to
the USA, to study and to be educated. After arriving in New York, she
succeeded in finding a post in the Hebrew department of the local
National Library. While she was working, she attended evening
lessons, studied English, and even attended lectures at the City
College until after her marriage. The National and Zionist heritage
was imbedded in Rina's blood. Thus, in 1920, she emigrated to
Palestine, together with her nine-year-old daughter, and went to
Mikve-Yisrael to work in Agriculture. Rina also spent a period of
pioneering in Kibbutz Ein-Harod. She experienced many changes in her
life; she returned to the USA, returned one more to Palestine - and
in 1930, she came with her husband, the Author Moshe Stavy-Stavsky
for a visit to her town of birth, Korelitz. For the pioneering youth
of Korelitz, her visit was an unforgettable experience.

Thirty years later, we met again in
Jerusalem, at one of the parties of the Working Mothers'
Organization. Rina's alert social sense found its expression in
extensive and dedicated activities: with the Working Mothers'
Organization, with the Hebrew Language Administration during the
period of mass immigration, and in recent years with the Committee
for Soldiers. She did not miss one lecture of the State's Ministers
and even regularly attended the Bible Circle at the State President's
residence until her last moments.

In the last weeks of her life, she planned
to visit her daughter and granddaughter in the USA. During my last
visit to her, after her heart attack, two days before she passed
away, I saw a photograph of her on her table. She had just brought
this photograph from the photographer. I said to Rina, Please give
it to me. She took a pen and wrote a dedication. When I told her the
general date, she replied that she wanted the Hebrew date. She wrote
while saying out loud, 17th Av, 5729.

Her memory is blessed as one of one of the
dearest and distinguished people of our town, Korelitz.

[Page 201]

Alter Greenfeld

Translated from the Yiddish by Harvey Spitzer

Alter Greenfeld was born in Korelitz in 1908. He attended the traditional cheder and was also taught by private teachers. With the outbreak of the First World War, when the Jews of Korelitz were deported from the town, he lived with his family in Svislotsh and in Novogrudek. When his father was taken into forced labor and his mother fell ill, Greenfeld supported the family by raising chickens for a German officer and helping French war prisoners to fell timber in the forest around Bialovezsher. In the evenings, he studied German and Bible with the help of a Jewish prisoner of war. In 1919, he studied other subjects in Russian evening courses and later in the YiddishHebrew public school in Novogrudek. He worked as a quilter and became socially active in his hometown, where he opened a children's club and library and later organized and led the local branch of the HeChalutz organization. In 1929, he was elected to serve on the board of the Galilee chapter of HeChalutz. He travelled around the province giving lectures on political and literary topics. He edited newspapers and wrote poetry and articles.

In 1934, he joined the staff of the Novogrudek Leben periodical, in which he published articles under the name A. Gad. In 1936, the Korelitz library published his collection of poems, Mir iz Gut (I have it made). Greenfeld also prepared a work for publication entitled Di Yugent oif der Provintz and a second book of poetry. In 1937, he submitted his application to work on the YIVO Aspirantor youth research series in Vilna. In 1939, when the Red Army entered Poland, Greenfeld crossed over into Russia and his fate is unknown.

I wish to set up a monument to
the many Korelitzers, among whom I grew up. Together with them, I
toured the streets; I rejoiced in their joys and I suffered with them
in their sorrows. Among them were extended families of which, no
remnant or fugitive remained. I chose one figure, who was etched in
my memory more than any others. His name was Yossel der Zalamanker,
Yossel der Geller. What was his surname? It is doubtful whether I
ever really knew. It is even doubtful whether he ever used it, except
for official purposes, of course. Why should I have chosen him
especially? Maybe it was because I was a witness to a consultation
between him and my uncle Eliyahu-Chaim regarding the establishment of
an Eyn-Yaakov study group, on which my uncle was counting. Or maybe
it was because I loved to watch people when they were walking to the
House-of-Study. I do not know whether this man died a natural death
and had a grave of his own, to which the town's residents accompanied
him in sorrow at his funeral, or whether he died in one of the
strange killings, together with those with whom he had lived, and
above whose graves were heard the sounds of wild exultation.

He had no children, and all his property
was the goodness of his heart and his honesty. He was short, his face
was covered by a yellow beard, and his blue eyes were very calming.
He paced slowly and comfortably on his way to the House-of-Study,
looking left and right, in case he should encounter someone with whom
he could hold a conversation. However, things were different on
Wednesdays, Market day, when he made his weekly living as a trader in
eggs.

Fearing that he would be late for the
Mincha prayer, he would make haste. He used to run straight, and
would leave behind everyone that he met on the way. He was hot in his
coat, his jacket was open, and he undid the buttons of his shirt
while he was running. He huffed and he puffed as he ran. When he
approached the House-of-Study and met people whose destination was
the same as his, a grin broke out on his weary face, and he started
gleaming all over. It sometimes happened, however, that he used to
arrive when the House-of-Study was empty. He then went outside and
walked around the building. Maybe a Minyan could be gathered. Every
so often, he would look at the sky to see whether it wasn't too late
for prayer.

[Page 203]

A. Feivel Nisselevitz

Yaacov Abramowich

He was the postman of the town, along with his being a coachman. Everyone who needed transportation to Novohorodok (21 kilometers) wanted to ride with Feivel. His tunes and anecdotes were much to the liking of his passengers, although he did ask them to walk up the steep inclines on the way to make it easier for the horses. The police at the Novohorodok checkpoint knew him well and waved him through without inspection.

His family was wiped out by the Nazis, except for one daughter, who left for Eretz-Israel before the war and settled in Tel Yosef.

Notes by Harvey Spitzer

The only genealogical information not included in the English translation is the name of Feivel's only surviving child: Feigel ( Faygl) (see last sentence). The rest of the Yiddish text deals with his lame horse (which he refused to replace although it took twice as long to get to Novogrudek and back) and about a Russian peasant in the town of Radun (half way) who offered Feivel a glass of milk every time he passed by. Feivel, in turn, brought the peasant gifts such as a comb, handkerchief or a pair of socks.

[Page 204]

B. The Porush, Kalman Marashiner

Yaacov Abramowich

He used to come to our school just before dismissal time, then take the boys with him to the Bet-Hamidrash and had them recite Psalms, in return for which he gave them gifts - a pencil, notebook and other small items of this kind.

He spent his entire day in the Bet-Hamidrash. Malkah, his wife, would bring his meals to him, and instead of sleeping he would lie on the wooden bench and take a brief nap, despite the sound of study around him.

In time he and his wife joined their children in Eretz-Israel.

[In Israel] they lived with their son, Aharon, in Kfar Ma'as. Kalman resumed his life of study in the Beit Midrash in a hut in Kfar Ma'as, and later in the synagogue in near-by Gat Rimon. He also visited their daughter, Shifra, in Givataim, where she lived with her family. (Shifra was subsequently killed in a car accident, leaving behind her husband and children.)

In 1947 I met with Kalman and his wife in Kfar Ma'as, near Petach Tikvah. They would often visit my sister Menucha with her husband Haim Itzkovitz and family.

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